Climate change and budget cuts: Facing the Aedes and Anopheles challenges together

Funding and organisational barriers between Aedes and Anopheles hamstring vector control adaptation to this new era of climate change and restricted public funding. Aedes-borne diseases never got the attention or funding like malaria and are now exploding across Asia and the Americas with devastating economic impact. Malaria elimination progress has stalled, and in several contexts reversed, due to sudden donor funding restrictions. There are both tactical and strategic ways the two vector control efforts can work together to meet these challenges. Tactically, these include insecticide resistance management, residual spraying, technology for larval source management, spatial emanators and surveillance. Strategically, community engagement, urbanisation and climate change, and financing/private sector engagement.  Malaria and Aedes-borne diseases have separate support networks and ‘communities of practice’. Now is the time to recognise mutual tactical and strategic benefits, break down the artificial barriers between these two worlds, and face our common challenges together.